Ave Maria
by Kimiko1
Summary: YAOI Vidfic for Alanis' "Forgiven". Duo-angst set to music.


Title: Ave Maria  
Author: Kimiko  
Email: kimiko@theunknown.com  
Pairing: 1x2  
Rating: PG  
Series: None  
Spoilers: Duo's Episode Zero  
Warnings: Angst, Shounen-Ai  
Disclaimers: Duo, Heero, Deathscythe and the Maxwell Church Massacre   
belong to the people at Sunrise, Bandai and Sotsu Agency. "Forgiven"   
belongs to Alanis Morrissette and is what I hope I'll be for changing one   
word – "girls" to "boys" – for the sake of coherence. I'm not making any   
money from this, as you know since you didn't pay me to read it.  
  
[drums]  
  
In time with each dull thud of the drums, a still-shot of an explosion   
flashes across the screen, progressing from mobile suits cut down by a   
sleek beam scythe to the detonation of a nondescript building. Deathscythe   
fights alone.  
  
[You know how us Catholic boys can be]  
  
The battle is over now. From a synthetic, gray-clouded sky, a light rain   
begins to fall. Duo, ragged and filthy, ambles into a rundown church in a   
bad neighborhood.  
  
[We make up for so much time a little too late]  
  
He crosses himself with holy water upon entering, kneeling to the altar,   
then ducks into a confessional. His lips move: "Forgive me, Father, for I   
have sinned. It has been ... six years since my last confession."  
  
[I never forgot it, confusing as it was  
No fun with no guilt feelings]  
  
Duo is seated in a pew at the back of the church, his fingers flying over a   
rosary. His lips are moving, head bent, eyes closed, as the camera pans   
around him and zooms in on his face: "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord   
is with thee..."  
  
[The sinners, the saviors, the loverless priests]  
  
A young woman, filthy, scantily clad, and heavily made up, ducks into the   
confessional Duo has vacated. As a tear courses down the prostitute's   
face, a priest and two nuns file past.  
  
[I'll see you next Sunday]  
  
Duo leaves the church, shielding his face against the downpour. As he   
glances back over his shoulder, we see another church superimposed over   
the real one.  
  
[We all had our reasons to be there  
We all had a thing or two to learn  
We all needed something to cling to  
So we did]  
  
Camera follows his line of vision, then enters the church, and focuses in   
on small groupings of people: a widow and her son, dressed in black,   
weeping; a young couple talking to the priest, joyfully displaying their   
wedding rings; a teenage girl, perhaps six months pregnant, breaking into   
uncontrollable sobs as a nun tries in vain to comfort her.  
  
[I sang Alleluia in the choir]  
  
Duo, age eight, stands with other children in choir robes, his little eyes   
shining brightly as he sings at the top of his lungs.  
  
[Ah – Alleluia-luia-luia]  
  
In the cockpit of Deathscythe, close on Duo's face, his eyes alight with   
battle-fire as he cackles maniacally.  
  
[I confessed my darkest deeds to an envious man]  
  
In the confessional, Duo smirks, and his eyes drift closed as he murmurs   
something. The priest's eyes widen, and he crosses himself.  
  
[My brothers, they never went blind for what they did  
But I may as well have]  
  
As Duo passes the churchyard, we see his mind's reconstruction of   
Maxwell Church; phantom children frolic joyfully in the mud puddles,   
playing a messy game of tag. Phantom Duo, age nine, turns and waves,   
smiling; but Duo himself shoves his hands deeper in his pockets, hunches   
his shoulders, and picks up his pace.  
  
[In the name of the Father, the Skeptic and the Son  
I had one more stupid question]  
  
Duo is bouncing around a safehouse, jester's mask firmly in place once   
more, as Heero types away on The Laptop. He is chattering blithely,   
oblivious to the growing irritation he is causing. Suddenly, we hear his   
words: "Do you like my hair better up, or down?" Abruptly, Heero is on   
his feet and in Duo's face.  
  
[We all had our reasons to be there  
We all had a thing or two to learn  
We all needed something to cling to]  
  
Eight-year-old Duo and the other kids are having a pillow fight in their   
dormitory. Sister Helen comes in and catches them, but cannot keep a   
smile from her face.  
  
[So we did]  
  
The look in Heero's eyes changes as Duo falls silent.  
  
[What I learned I rejected, but I believe again]  
  
A brief still of Duo's cross on the bottom of the otherwise empty   
wastebasket, where he flung it upon returning from his mission.  
  
[I will suffer the consequence of this inquisition]  
  
Duo swallows hard; Heero blinks, and starts to turn away.  
  
[If I jump in this fountain, will I be forgiven?]  
  
Duo hesitates but an instant, then leans in and kisses Heero softly, almost   
an inquiry. Heero kisses back insistently, as if he's relieved.  
  
[We all had our reasons to be there  
We all had a thing or two to learn  
We all needed something to cling to  
So we did]  
  
Masses of people are huddled in Maxwell Church. Single parents attempt   
to calm their screaming children; grandparents huddle with large extended   
families; small groups of teens and adults sit together, trembling in fear.   
Rebel troops guard the exits, looking menacing. Eight-year-old Duo   
sneaks past them and out.  
  
[We all had delusions in our head  
We all had our minds made up for us  
We had to believe in something  
So we did]  
  
In the moonlight streaming in the window, Duo's hair is silvered and   
appears almost like a river of silk. He is asleep, sprawled across most of   
Heero's bed, the white sheet drawn haphazardly up to his waist. Heero   
crosses the room silently, retrieves the cross from the wastebasket, and   
fastens it around his lover's neck. He slides into the bed, pressing a kiss to   
Duo's forehead, and, as the American snuggles up to him, twining slender   
arms around him, falls asleep.  
  
[We all had our reasons to be there  
We all had a thing or two to learn  
We all needed something to cling to  
So we did]  
  
A long shot of the Maxwell Church ruins, casting eerie shadows in the   
synthetic starlight. As the last strains of the music fade, the scene is   
replaced by a narrow view of expressive violet eyes, filled with tears that   
must never be shed.  
  
~OWARI~  



End file.
